I had a HVAC technician come to my home last sunday for a furnace problem. He did not fix my problem but did show me how I could make furnace work for time being. While he was here I went to crawl space with him and fetched the tools he neeed for the area was a tight fit for him. He saw no way to fix the furnace and wanted to sell me a new furnace. He has billed me $105.00 for his service. Should I pay the full amount? Is it ethical for him to charge that amount for not fixing the furnace? I have since gone with another tech. who is installing a inducer today that should fix my problem.
Kane

01-15-2005, 01:35 PM

cde72

That $105 is most "likely" the charge just for him to come out on a Sunday... ie, leave his family on his day off... It is ethical to charge a fee for responding to your call, whether or not he fixes the furnace...

01-15-2005, 01:35 PM

BaldLoonie

If he couldn't figure out how to fix it and you had to pay another tech to do so, this might be a time to fight. Is this a 1 man outfit? If not, call the boss. See if he knows what he has representing his company!

01-15-2005, 01:40 PM

cde72

I am not as quick as loonie to jump to the conclusion that this second technician will fix your furnace... Please, let me know if it does work...

01-15-2005, 01:41 PM

kaneswaney

he is the owner, one man operation.

01-15-2005, 02:16 PM

sigma

Quote:

Originally posted by kaneswaney He did not fix my problem but did show me how I could make furnace work for time being.

How did you make it work?

01-15-2005, 02:17 PM

Irishmist

Ours is the only industry that I am aware of that promotes and provides "free service opinions, or free second opinions." Why is that? I know I can't go to anyone with an equivilent level of expertise and get a free second opinion. Guess what? I have to make my co-pay BEFORE I even see my Dr. If a customer makes a request for me to come out to service a piece of equipment they are advised from the start what the cost of my responding is. Especially on overtime! If I cannot fix the problem, then a slight concession may be in order. I have to be cognizant of the fact that if I don't have the part with me that I might need, I may not be able to get it after hours. Also, working with the customer may in fact, enable you to keep that customer. Otherwise you'll lose the customer and have someone upset that you have not refunded their money.

01-15-2005, 02:26 PM

rob10

Pay the bill

You're lucky he came out on Sunday and got you back on line.

01-15-2005, 03:02 PM

duc dowg

pay the bill

01-15-2005, 04:00 PM

oil-2-4-6-gas

i'm on call Sunday:::you call i will tell you on the phone the rates, the minimum for the service call.sunday can't get parts if it's a board or a non-stock item, i will advise you that i fix it or not you are charged -----i have to get in the van and drive to your residence(vehicles,tools,gas,insurance,payroll,par ts stock,office space etc...)it all costs money /// pay the bill

01-15-2005, 04:44 PM

refrtech

Stop your biatchin Kane !! Do you biatch when you have to pay a doctor to tell you that you have the flu ?? You should be happy that you were only charged $105 for a terchnician to come out on a Sunday !! A Sunday when the playoffs are on @ that !!! Just to put it into prospective for you , if I have to leave my house on a Sunday for an OT call it is a MINIMUM 4 hours charged @ $190 per hour !!! If it takes me longer than 4 hours you will be billed from the time I left my house until the time I walked back into my house !!! DON'T WORRY BE HAPPY :)

01-15-2005, 05:05 PM

ron690

call your family DR. on sunday to come to your house(sniff sniff)i bet he tells ya.But what's a service call. If you're not a regular customer, it's C.O.D. repair or not,we don't have a rolling warehouse for every product.

01-15-2005, 05:12 PM

marvin

if it is on old cust. they already know the drill new cust. calls for weekend service i want the service call charge upfront just like the dr. wants the co pay
pay the man